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MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED) – Secretary Judy Taguiwalo announced on Thursday, June 22, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is procuring tents that will temporarily house displaced families when they return to Marawi City in Lanao del Sur once the military has cleared the area of terrorists.But
These are just one of the stopgaps the government is implementing while it forms a rehabilitation strategy for the city, where houses, important buildings and offices, even historical structures have been destroyed by firefight and airstrikes in the last 4 weeks.
“We are procuring family-sized tents. We have started the procurement 3 weeks ago… These can be immediately used rather than the emergency [shelter] assistance [program],” Taguiwalo said in a briefing at Malacañang Palace.
Each tent can accommodate up to 8 persons.
Aside from the tents, the DSWD will also provide P4,000 for each family who will be returning to the city.
“[It] has been budgeted once they go back to Marawi, for them to start anew,” Taguiwalo said.
The P4,000 cash aid is part of the P5,000 grant earlier announced by the DSWD. The remaining P1,000 is intended for food assistance in their celebration of the end of Ramadan on Monday, June 26.
As for the restoration of jobs and livelihood, Taguiwalo said this will be headed by the National Economic and Development Authority.
The DSWD, Department of Trade and Industry, and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority also have their respective livelihood training programs for the evacuees.
Taguiwalo said they are continuously delivering aid to evacuation centers in Northern Mindanao. (READ: How to help Marawi evacuees through DSWD)
Since the crisis started, the DSWD has spent P294 million on food and non-food relief for the evacuees. The Department of Budget and Management also gave the DSWD an additional P3.6 million. (READ: ‘Safe spaces’ set up for women, children who fled Marawi)
A total of 69,434 families have been displaced as of June 21. Only 5% of these families are staying in evacuation centers. The rest are staying with their relatives or friends, many of them in either Iligan City in Lanao del Norte, or in Cagayan de Oro in Misamis Oriental.
Taguiwalo encouraged the home-based evacuees to get in touch with barangay officials and the DSWD to receive relief assistance.
President Rodrigo Duterte earlier said that P20 billion will be alloted for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of Marawi City.
The military has been battling terrorists in Marawi City since May 23. So far, the month-long clashes have left 65 soldiers and policemen dead. The military also said 258 terrorists have been killed, while 26 civilians were killed by terrorists. (READ: Marawi battle zone: Urban warfare challenges PH military)
The clashes in Marawi City prompted PresidentDuterte to declare martial law in the entire Mindanao, also on May 23. Martial law will remain in effect for a maximum of 60 days, unless Duterte seeks an extension and gets congressional approval. – Rappler.com
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